Teaching page · Grade 3 · Lesson 40

How it sounds

Writers choose how a sentence SOUNDS, not only what it says.

What it is

A sentence is heard even when it is read silently. Authors work with that: they repeat a sound, or they put a very short sentence after long ones so it lands hard. You cannot find any of this with your eyes — you have to read it aloud, which is why this page asks you to read it twice.

Watch it built

1
Read the line aloud once, just to hear it.
The slow, soft snow settled on the stones.
2
Read it again and listen for a sound that comes back.
s — slow, soft, snow, settled, stones. Six times.
3
Ask what that sound does to the line.
It hushes it. The sentence sounds like the quiet it describes.
Remember
Read it aloud twice. Listen for a repeated sound, or a sudden short line.
Ask yourself: “What comes back — a sound, or a rhythm?”

Remember

Listen to the line.

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